Rock-drilling apparatus



May 19, 1925.

o. E,2CLARK ROCK DRILLING APPARATUS Filed April 19, 1918 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 19, 1925.

O. E. CLARK ROCK DRILLING APPARATUS Filed April 19, 1918 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented 19, 1925. r v

UNITED STATES PATENT orrica.

OMAR E. CLARK, 01: DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNO'R TO THE DENVER ROCK DBHIL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, A CORPORATION OF DEILA- WARE.

ROCK-DRILLING APPARATUS.

Application flied April 19, 1918. Serial No. 229,300.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, OMAR E. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, -in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rock-Drilling App-{u ratus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to drilling apparatus partic'ularly of that type in which the drill steel is automatically rotated by a moto'r inde endent of the drilling motor.

One of. t e objects is to provide an effective drill rotating motor that can be construdted at relatively small cost, and in which the parts can be assembled with the greatest ease. Furthermore the parts when soassembled, will cooperate and not be liable' to breakage, or excessive Wear.

A further and very important object is to provide simple means for controlling the operation of the motors and the supply of cleansing fluid to the drill bit.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus, somewhat diagrammatic in its character.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3, 39, 9*? inclusive are detail sec-.

-tional-views through the throttle or controlling valve, showing the various control v interchangeable, so that elther can be placed positions.

Figure 10 is a development of the said valve.

Figure 11 is a horizontal sectional, view In the cylinder member thus provided, is

located a reciprocatory hammer piston 14-. It comprises a central head 15 with oppositely projecting necks 16 having annular casing 18, from which extends a passageway 19 havingports 20 o ening through the inner ends of thehea s 12 and 13. 'It will thus be evident that if motive fluid is admitted through the passageway 19, it will alternately enter the barrel on opposite sides of the head 15 by reason of the grooves 17 The exhaust takes place through a port in dicated in dotted lines at 21. So far as described, the structure is a known type of drilling motor.

' The front head 13 has a reduced portion 22 on which is fitted a sleeve 23. A rotatable chuck 24 is journaled in this sleeve and is adapted .to detachably receive the rear end of a drill steel 25 having a bore 26 therethrough. The chuck 24 is provided on its rear portion with a worm wheel 27 The sleeve 23 is provided on one side with a gear case 28 in which is journaled a shaft 29 carrying a worm 30 that is in mesh with the worm wheel 27, as shown in Figure 2. The

said sleeve, 23 is furthermore providedon one side with a flat base portion 31 forming a part of a rotary motor casing, the remain-' upon either spindle, and the two will properly cooperate. Each of these gears is pro vided with a plurality of sockets 35 extending in from one side, and the worm shaft 29 has an enlarged head portion 36 provided with pins 37 that detachably engage in the particular piston gear that is aligned with the shaft. piston gear are, of course, not utilized unless the pistons are interchanged, in which case the pins are correspondingly engaged in the sockets thereof. The gears are provided with suitable roller bearings 38, and the shaft 29 has ball thrust bearin s 39 and'40 the latter being located within t e head 36 and against the axially disposed spindle 33. With this construction, it will be evident that the shaft is independently mounted, and the coupling between the same and the piston gear allows The sockets of the other a slight amount of play sufficient to pnevent binding of the parts, while insuring proper cooperation between the piston and the shaft.

The structure as above described has many advantages. Excessive friction and binding of the various parts due to misalignment is should be cut down to a minimum, and the relation of the parts in this respect being fixed, the assembling and cooperative action of the other parts is assured.

The above described rotary motor is reversible. That is to say, it may be continuously operated in either direction, and for this purpose separate passageways 41 and 42 lead from the interior of the valve casing and open into the housing 32 on opposite sides of the intermeshing portions of the gear pistons 34. An exhaust passageway also opens from the interior of the valve casing 18 and extends through the barrel 11, its discharge end, as shown at 44, opening into the head 13 in rear of the chuck, and consequently being in communication with the bore 26 of the drill steel 25.

Extending through the piston 14, is a tube 45 secured atits rear end in the rear head 12, its front end delivering into the bore 26 of the drill steel 25, as illustrated in Figure 1. ater is supplied to the rear end of this tube 45 from any suitable source by a conduit coupled in the socket 46, a passageway 47 extending from the nipple to the rear end of the tube. Another passageway 48 extends from the valve casing 18 in advance of the valve therein, as shown in Figure 13 and communicates with the pas sageway 47. A three-way rotary valve 49 is located at the juncture of the passageways 47 and 48.

The interior formation of the valve casing 18 provides a tapered valve seat in which is located a rotary tapered valve 50 having'a central bore 50 to which fluid under pressure is admitted as'iswell known to those skilled in the art. This valve 50 is provided with a lateral port 51 communicating with the bore 50" and movable into and out of communication with the passageway 19 by which motive fluid is supplied to the drilling motor. Another lateral port 52 is formed in the valve 50 nearer the larger end thereof, and is in communication with the bore 50. It is movable into and out of communication with the inlet ends of the passageways, 41 and 42. Still another port or channel 53 is formed in the external portion of the valve 50 in transverse alignment with the port 52 and is movable intocommunication with the passageways 41 and 42 and also is arranged to communicate with M port 52 is first brought into communication with the passageway 42, and therefore motive fluid will enter said passageway and be delivered to the rotary motor on one side of the pistons. The motor can therefore be started slowly in operation and the exhaust will flow back through the passageway 41 which is now in communication with the channel 53, as shown in Figure 4, this channel at the same time affording an outlet through the exhaust passageway 43, and thus delivering the exhaust from the rotary motor to the bore of the drill steel. As the valve is further turned to the left, the port 52 is more and more opened, gradually increasing the supply of fluid to the chuck rotating motor until said valve comes to the position shown in Figures 5 and 5. When so positioned, as shown in Figure 5 the port 52 is fully opened while the supply port 51, as shown in Figure 5 is partially opened. The motive fluid is thus admitted through the passageway 19, to the drilling motor, and the hammer piston is therefore thrown into operation. A continuedmovement of the valve to the left brings the port 51 and passageway 19 into fully registered position, as

shown in Figure 6, while the supply through the passageway 42 by means of the port 52 is still open, as illustrated in Figure 6. If

it is desired to operate the drilling motor while the chuck rotating motor is at a standstill, the valve is moved still further to the left, in which case, the port 51 is still in full communication with the passageway 19, while the port 52 is out of register with the passageway 42, as shown in Figure 7.

As is well known to those skilled in the art it is a very common occurrence for a drill steel to become lodged in the drill hole, and at times it becomes so firmly stuck that it is necessary to turn the apparatus in order to'free it. This involves the stopping of the motor, and heretofore the custom has been to apply a wrench to the structure and operate it manually. With the present structure, this can be done mechanically. The drilling motor is stopped by turning the valve 50 to the position shown in Figures 3 and 3 the said valve is then oscillated between the position shown in Figure 4 and the position illustrated in Figure 8, which brings the port 52 alternately into communication with the assageways 41 and 42. As a consequence t e motive fluid being alternately directed intosaid passageways, will operate alternately in opposite directions against the chuck rotating motor,

the drilling motor can be intermittently driven upon each operation of the chuck rotating motor in one direction. The result is that a powerful turning movement can be applied to the drill steel in opposite directions for freeing the same.

As will be evident, during the normal op eration of the drilling apparatus, the exhaust from the chuck rotating motor is utilized for cleansing the drill hole of its cuttings, the exhaust being'delivered to the drill steel through the passageway 44 and being conducted through the bore of such drill steel to the bottom of the drill hole. Water is supplied to the bore of the drill steel through the tube 45. It sometimes happens that because of the collection of material the exhaust is insufficient to expel the cuttings, and whenever a supplemental supply of greater force is desired it'is only necessary to turn the valve 49 to a position.

to effect a communication between the passageways 48 and 47, whereupon a supply of live motive fluid will augment the weaker force of the exhaust and expel the detritus. The watermay be admitted only with the supplemental supply or cut off entirely by the valve 49, as will be evident.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without further description, 'and it will be understood thatyarious changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention;

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of means for continuously rotating a drill operated on by the drilling motor, in either of opposite directions.

2. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a drill rotating motor, and means for effecting the continuous movement of the drill rotating motor, in either of opposite directions, to correspondingly rotate a drill operated on by the drilling motor.

3. In apparatus of the character set forth, thecombination with a drilling motor, of a rotary drill rotating motor, means for delivering fluid to the drilling,motor to cause its actuation and simultaneously to the drill rotating motor to cause its movement in one direction and effect a corresponding movement tothe drill steel operated on by the drilling motor, and means for also delivering motive .fluid to the drill rotating motor to cause a retrograde movement of the drill. steel and thereby free it when it becomes lodged.

4. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor,

of a chuck for a'drill operated on by the drilling motor, and a motor connected to the chuck for effecting the rotation of the latter in either of opposite directions independently of the drilling motor and in one direction simultaneously with the drilling motor.

5. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a chuck for holding a drill to be operated on by the drilling motor, a rotary. motor geared to the chuck for rotating the same in either of opposite directions, and means for delivering motive fluid to the motor to drive the same in either of opposite directions.

6. In apparatus of the character set forth,

the combination with a drilling motor, of

a chuck for a drill operated on by the drilling motor, a rotary motor geared to the chuck for rotating the same in either of opposite directions, passageways for respectively delivering motive fluid to the drilling motor and to the rotary motor to drive the latter in opposite directions, and means for controlling the passageways to secure the simultaneous operation of the drilling motor and the rotary motor in one direction to effect a drilling operation and a reverse rotation of the rotary 'motor to free a lodged drill.

7. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotary chuck for receiving a tool to be operated on thereby, a reversible motor connected to the chuck for rotating the same, means for delivering motive fluid to the reversible motor to drive the same in either of opposite directions, means for supplying fluid to the drilling motor, and a common valve for controlling the passage of the fluid to the motors and for reversing the chuck rotating motor.

8. In apparatus of the character set forth. the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotary chuck for receiving a tool to be operated on thereby, a reversible motor con- 'nected to the chuck for rotating the same,

I the combination with a drilling motor, of Y a rotary chuck for receiving a tool to be operated on thereby, a reversible motor connected to the chuck for rotating the same,

' means for delivering motive fluid to the reversiblemotor to drive the same in either of opposite directions, means for supplying fluid to the drilling motor, and a common.

valve for controlling the passage of the fluid to the motorsto permit the operation of the drilling motor and simultaneously the chuck rotating motor in one direction, and the operation of the chuck ro tating motor in an opposite direction independently of the operation of the drilling motor.

10. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a valve casing, a motive fluid supply passage from the casing to the drilling motor, a rotary tool receiving chuck, a motor for rotating the chuck in either of opposite directions, separate passageways leading from the valve casing to the chuck rotating motor for respectively delivering fluid to the same to operate said motor in opposite directions, and valve mechanism in the casing for controlling the supply of fluid'through all said passageways.

11. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a valve casing, a motive fluid supply passage from the casing to the drilling motor, a rotary tool receiving chuck, a motor for rotating the chuck. in either of opposite directions, separate passageways leading from the valve casing to the chuck rotating motor for respectively delivering fluid to the same to operate said motor in opposite directions, an exhaust passageway opening from the valve casing, and a rotary valve having ports movable into and out of communication with all said passageways to control the supply of fluid thereto, said valve also having an exhaust port for connecting either passageway: of the drill rotating motor with said exhaust passageway.

12. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable tool receiving chuck, a motor for rotating the 'latter, means for supplying motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor, an exhaust passageway that communicates' with the chuck, and a manually operated throttle valve controlling the supply of motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor and the exhaust of such motive fluid to the exhaust passageway.

13. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable tool receiving chuck, a motor for rotating the latter, means for supplying motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor, an exhaust passageway that communicates with the chuck, and a rotary throttle valve having an internal supply bore and a port that moves into and out of communication with said supply means, said valve also having an external port that is movable into and out of communication with the exhaust passageway.

14. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable tool receiving chuck,'a. reversible motor for rotating the chuck, means for supplying motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor to operate'the same in opposite directions, an exhaust passageway that communicates with the chuck, and means for controlling the supply of motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor to operate the same in opposite directions and also control the exhaust of such -motive fiiiid to the exhaust passageway when so operated.

15. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable tool receiving chuck, a reversible motor for rotating the chuck in either of opposite directions, separate passageways for supplying motive fluid to the chuck rotating motor to reversibly operate the same, an exhaust passageway that communicates with the chuck, and means for permitting the supply of fluid through either pamageway and directing the exhaust from the chuck rotating motor to the exhaust passageway.

16. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable tool receiving chuck, a reversible operating motor for rotating the chuck in either of opposite directions, a valve casing, separate passageways leading therefrom to the chuck rotating motor for supplying motive fluid, to respectively operate the said motor in either direction, an exhaust passageway leading from the valve casing and communicating with the chuck, and a rotary valve having a port for supplying motive fluid to either supply passageway, said valve also having means for establishing communication between the other passageway and the exhaust passageway.

17. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable chuck, a drill rotating motor including a base, and a detachable a detachable casing casing portion, said casing ortion having integra spindles, lntermes 1n rotatable pistons ournaled on the spin les, and a worm shaft connected to-one of the pistons and geared to the chuck.

18. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, including a barrel having a head, of a sleeve fitted to the head and having a gear case at one side of the same, a rotatable chuck in the sleeve having a worm wheel, a drill rotating motor including a base formed integrally with the sleeve, and rtion, said casing portion having integra spindles, intermeshing rotatable pistons journaled on the spindles, and a worm shaft connected to one of the pistons and located in the gear casing, said worm shaft having a worm meshing with the worm wheel.

19. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with i a drilling motor, of a chuck rotatably mounted thereon, a rotating motor for the chuck comprising a casing having a piston chamber and a rotatable piston head within the piston chamber, a worm shaft geared to the chuck, and a coupling between the inner end of the worm shaft and the piston head within the piston chamber that permits their relative play.

20. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a chuck rotatably mounted thereon, a rotating motor for the chuck com rising a casing and a rotatablepiston ii within the casing having sockets in one end, a worm shaft geared to the chuck, and-a coupling head onthe inner end of the worm ead' shaft having pins that slidably enter the sockets in the piston head. I

21. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotary chuck, a motor including intermeshing interchangeable rotary gear pistons, a worm shaft geared to the chuck,

and means for connecting-the worm shaft to either piston gear accordingly as they are interchanged.

22. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable chuck, a motor including intermeshing interchangeable rotary gear pistons having sockets, and a worm shaft geared to the chuck and having pins adapted to engage in the sockets of either gear piston.

23. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination with a drilling motor, of a rotatable chuck having a worm wheel, a chuck rotatin motor including a detachable casing portion having integral spindles, intermeshing gear pistons journaled on the spindles and having sockets, a shaft having a worm meshin with the worm wheel of the chuck and Iiaving pins adapted to engage in the sockets of either piston as the same are interchanged, and thrust bearings for the shaft, one of the bearings operating against one of the integral spindles. p

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. OMAR E. CLARK.

Witnesses:

EDWD. L. OLDHAM, SULLIN JoHNsoN. 

